Israel's role in world football should be decided by UEFA, says Montagliani

VIDEO SHOWS: SOUNDBITES FROM FIFA VICE PRESIDENT VICTOR MONTAGLIANI FULL SCRIPT TO FOLLOW SHOWS: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (OCTOBER 1, 2025) (HAYTERS – Access all) 1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) VICTOR MONTAGLIANI, FIFA VICE PRESIDENT, SAYING:     "First and foremost, it's a member of UEFA, and no different than I have to deal with a member in my region for whatever other reason, and by the way, maybe it's not as, you know, in terms of a global headline, but I have, you know, issues in my region with conflict between countries as well. It's just not as front page of your papers, and so I have, you know, I respect that it's a decision by UEFA, it's their member, they have to deal with it, and I respect not only their process, but whatever decision they make, of course." 2. WHITE FLASH 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) VICTOR MONTAGLIANI, FIFA VICE PRESIDENT, SAYING:     "If I have to react every time a politician makes a statement, whether it's a president, or senator, or congressman, or even in my country, quite honestly, or even in Mexico, then, you know, I wouldn't be doing my job, because I'd be focussing on what these guys say, so the reality is we're focused on the 16 venues, and making sure that they're ready to go once you guys come over and cover the matches. 4. WHITE FLASH 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) VICTOR MONTAGLIANI, FIFA VICE PRESIDENT, SAYING:     "Yeah, so let me address obviously the kick-off times, lesson learned on some of them and, you know, for those of you who don't come over to watch other games, it's always an issue in our region because, you know, summers are hot in Canada and US, even in Canada by the way, they're hot, not just the US, and so, you know, it's important to learn those things." 6. WHITE FLASH 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) VICTOR MONTAGLIANI, FIFA VICE PRESIDENT, SAYING:     "We're in those conversations daily, you know, our media guys with European media, with other world media, in terms of what's best, obviously, what are the stadiums that you can play at three o'clock, like Atlanta, for instance, so that's all in the mix now, you know, obviously what we're trying to do, once with the schedule does come out in terms of the actual schedule after the draw, you know, we're gonna do our best to ensure that all that's taken into consideration. Now, will there be every game that'll be absolutely perfect from a kick-off time, from a TV perspective? I don't know, because there's a lot of games, but I think that's all taken into consideration." STORY: TO FOLLOW

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